Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-05-21
THE MAIDEN'S SOLACE.
A Brief Chapter of Interesting Facts Con
corning Spruce Gum.

corning spruce Gum.
BANGOR, May 5.-The seasons logging
operations on the Penobscot are over now
the ak swingers are out of the woods and
the bar-rooms of Bangor have reaped Their
usual harvest, while the supply of spruce
gum is literally replenished, and every
school girl in town can chew to her hearts
content.
A lump of clear, genuine spruce gum, fresh
and fragrant from its native forest, is not to
be despised as chewing substance and if
every body could get the real article, instead
of cheap, adulterated stuff, the army of
chewers would be vastly augmented. The
natural gum is said by physicians to be ben
eficial to the teeth, and it is certainly great
improvement on tobacco. The woodsmen
bring out considerable quantities of gum,
sometimes packed in pretty miniature barrels,
which they white and carve from blocks of
white pine or cedar during the Idle hours by
the camp fire, as presents for their friends,
but there are people who make business of
gathering gum, and in certain sections Of the
spruce country it pays well.
Most of the spruce gum handled by the
dealers comes from Canada and Northern
Maine, while Vermont and New Hampshire
contribute moderate quantity to the total
yield. The best gum comes from no particu-
lar section, but always from the biggest
spruce trees, and it begins to run in July or
August when, in these high latitudes, the
sun becomes so hot as to crack the bark. On
the limbs in the crOtches, and even in the
trunk of the spruce, the molten gum forms
during the heat of summer in all sorts of fan
tastic shapes and when cold weather sets in
it becomes hard. The first year after its run
the gum is white and pitchy, then it begins
tp flIry nd no
it is fit to ''pick" for the market, although it
is better if allowed to remain on the trees I'M
til the third year. After the third season
the gum remains in the same state for several
years, and then begins to turn old" as the
pickers say, and the consumer complains
that it chews hard" and crumbles up. A
little more age makes it dark-colored and
bitter, and then its value is gone.
Up in Canada much of the gum is picked
in autumn, beginning as early as October
but there, as in Maine, the best time for the
work is during the deep SHOWS of the winter
when snOwshOes are used or in the early
spring, when man can travel along at a
lively rate on the heavy crust above the I'M
1erbrush. The pickers are provided with
long poles, on the end of which is fastened a
sharp chisel, and underneath that cup to
receive the gum as it is Clipped off. The cup
holds from pint to quart, and when full
it is emptied into long bag which the
sack. These gum harvesters erects huts in
the woods when far distant from settle
ment or logging camp and stay from two
days to a week on the trip. When they have
secured as much as they can tote" they
come out, and then the women and children
have the tedious job of scraping each and
every lump free from bark and moss The
clean, bright article Offered for sale in the
shops looks very much different from the
brown nuggets in the picker's bag, although
occasionally clear shiny piece is found on
the limb Of a large tree.
1t is the cleaning of the gum that makes a
first-class article expensive An ordinary
picker usually earns fair days wages, al
though in localities that have not been ex>
plored he sometimes STRIKES it rich" have
known man to gather $50 worth of gum in
one day.
There are two or three firms in Maine
which buy large quantities of gum from
lumbermen and pickers for the purpose of
refining it, as they say. But, as general
rule, the refining consists of adulteration
with rosin., They throw the gum into
it to about the consistency of mo-
lasses, Swimming off the impurities as they
rise to the surface. Then, if the purpose be
to adulterate, some lard or grease and lot of
rosin is thrown in, with sometimes a little
sugar. The mixture is stirred until thick
and then poured out on slab, where, while
it is yet hot, it is rolled out in sheet about
quarter of an inch thick, and afterward cut
with a steel die into pieces half an inch wide
and three-quarters of an inch long These
pieces are wrapped in colOred tissue paper and
packed in wooden boxes-two hundred
pieces to a box. This is a so-called patent
gum. Tons of it are sold south and west of
us, but here on the verge of the primeval
forest it is drug in the market.-NeV York